Sterilizing water dispensing apparatus, and bidet and toilet seat having the same

ABSTRACT

A sterilizing water dispensing apparatus, and a bidet and toilet seat having the same are disclosed. The sterilizing water dispensing apparatus includes: an inlet to which sterilizing water is introduced; a cylindrical vortex production chamber that generates a vortex in the sterilizing water introduced through the inlet; and a dispensing hole disposed at the center of the bottom of the vortex production chamber and dispensing the vortex-produced sterilizing water in the vortex production chamber to an inner wall of the toilet. Because sterilizing water is dispensed in the form of fine particles with a relatively large surface area, the sterilizing water is brought into contact with a larger area of an inner wall of a toilet, so a sterilizing effect can be enhanced with a small quantity of sterilizing water. In addition, because sterilizing water can be dispensed to the entire surface of the inner wall of the toilet with a single sterilizing water dispensing apparatus by increasing a dispensing angle and dispensing speed of sterilizing water, the configuration can be simple and the cost can be reduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priorities of Korean Patent ApplicationsNos. 10-2009-0027612 and 10-2009-0083472 filed on Mar. 31, 2009 and Sep.4, 2009 respectively, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sterilizing water dispensingapparatus, and a bidet and toilet seat having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

A toilet (i.e., a toilet bowel, a chamber pot, etc.) is equipmentallowing a user to be seated to have a bowel movement, and recently, abidet-equipped toilet has been widely used for a sanitary purpose. Abidet is a device for dispensing water to cleanse the private parts ofthe user after the user relieves himself, having the advantage ofkeeping the private parts of the user clean through washing without theuse of paper.

Commonly, a water tank, a bidet, and a control panel are mounted on thetoilet. Upon completion of a bowel movement, when the user presses alever, water within the toilet is flushed out, along with feces, and thetoilet is refilled with water from that contained within the water tank.In addition, when the user operates the bidet by manipulating thecontrol panel, a nozzle installed within a main body of the bidetapparatus moves to a front side of the main body of the bidet apparatusto dispense cleansing water to the private parts of the user.

With the toilet operating in this manner, if the feces within the toiletare not entirely flushed out, the feces may be fixedly attached to aninner wall of the toilet. In addition, because water is always presentwithin the toilet, various microorganisms may inhabit it and multiply,which is undesirable in terms of sanitation. Thus, the user mustperiodically wash the toilet by applying a sterilization solution orcleaning solution to the interior of the toilet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention provides a sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus capable of sterilizing the entire inner wall of atoilet with a small quantity of sterilizing water, and a bidet and atoilet seat having the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided asterilizing water dispensing apparatus including: an inlet through whichsterilizing water is introduced; a cylindrical vortex production chamberthat produces a vortex in the sterilizing water introduced through theinlet; and a dispensing hole disposed at the center of the bottom of thevortex production chamber and dispensing the vortex-produced sterilizingwater of the vortex production chamber to an inner wall of the toilet.

The sterilizing water in the vortex production chamber may be sprayed inthe form of fine particles through the dispensing hole.

The vortex production chamber may include a guide groove extending froma side wall to the interior, and in this case, the guide groove extendstoward a position deviating from the center of the vortex productionchamber, whereby sterilizing water can be introduced to the interior ofthe vortex production chamber along the guide groove, producing a vortexrotating about the center of the vortex production chamber.

The guide groove may be formed such that its width narrows toward theinterior from the side wall.

A plurality of guide grooves may be formed to be symmetrical about thecenter of the vortex production chamber.

Sterilizing water may be dispensed through the dispensing hole at adispensing angle of 100 degrees or greater.

The vortex production chamber may have a height (A) ranging from 0.1 mmto 0.3 mm.

The dispensing hole may have a length (B) ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

The dispensing hole may have a diameter (C) ranging from 0.1 mm to 1.5mm.

The guide groove may have a width (D) ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.7 mm.

The dispensing hole may be smaller than the inlet.

The pressure of sterilizing water within the vortex production chambermay range 1.2 kg/cm² to 5 kg/cm².

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda bidet including the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus and asterilizing water generating apparatus that supplies sterilizing waterto the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus.

The sterilizing water generating apparatus may generate sterilizingwater by an electrode method.

The bidet may further include: a nozzle assembly that dispenses water tothe private parts of the user; and a nozzle tip cleaning part thatcleans a nozzle tip of the nozzle assembly, wherein the sterilizingwater generating apparatus is connected to the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus and the nozzle tip cleaning part, and sterilizingwater generated by the sterilizing water generating apparatus issupplied to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus or to the nozzletip cleaning part.

The sterilizing water dispensing apparatus may be connected to a pump,and sterilizing water may be supplied by the pump.

The pump may include an electric motor, a decelerating gear partconnected with the electric motor and having a plurality of gears todecelerate a rotational speed, a plurality of link members having oneside coupled with the decelerating gear part and making a jointmovement, and a pumping unit connected with another side of the linkmembers and reciprocally moving according to the joint movement of thelink member, wherein the pumping unit may supply sterilizing water ofthe sterilizing water generating apparatus to the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus while making a reciprocal movement.

A dispensing hole of the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus may beinstalled to be sloped from a directly downward side to a front side.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda toilet seat including: the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus, andthe sterilizing water generating apparatus that supplies sterilizingwater to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus.

The sterilizing water generating apparatus may generate sterilizingwater by a solution method.

The sterilizing water dispensing apparatus may be installed at a rearside of the toilet seat, and a dispensing hole may be installed to besloped from a directly downward side to a front side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toilet including a sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are side sectional views of the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a body part of the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates the configuration of a water supply system of thesterilizing water dispensing apparatus according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a different type of pump according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates dispensing of sterilizing water to an inner wall of atoilet by the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the drawings, the shapes and dimensions may beexaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals will be usedthroughout to designate the same or like components.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toilet 10 including a sterilizingwater dispensing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, a bidet 20 is installed at an upper portion ofthe toilet 10. The bidet 20 includes a main body 30 of the bidetapparatus, and a toilet seat 40 and a toilet cover 50 are hinge-coupledto the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus such that they are rotatable.The toilet seat 40 has an annular shape to allow a user to be seated tohave a bowel movement, and a heater may be disposed within the toiletseat 40 to heat the toilet seat 40 to have a temperature comfortable fora user. The toilet cover 50 is formed to have a shape corresponding tothe toilet seat 40 in order to close the exposed portion of the annulartoilet seat 40 when the toilet 10 is not in use.

A nozzle assembly 60 and a drying apparatus 70 are installed at an innerside of the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus. The nozzle assembly 60includes an anus cleaning nozzle and a for-women bidet nozzle. Thecleaning nozzle and the bidet nozzle are installed to be movable in aforward direction from the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus. A nozzletip having a discharge hole is mounted at a front end portion of each ofthe cleaning nozzle and the bidet nozzle to dispense flushing water.

The drying apparatus 70 includes a blow fan, a blow duct, and a heatingunit, and discharges heated air in a forward direction from the mainbody 30 of the bidet apparatus.

A control panel 80 is installed at one side of the main body 30 of thebidet apparatus, so the user can control the operation of the bidet 20by using the control panel 80. Namely, after having a bowel movement,the user may press a cleaning button or a bidet button. The cleaningnozzle or the bidet nozzle then moves forward to dispense water to theprivate parts of the user, and after cleaning, the user may press adrying button to dispense heated air to remove moisture from the privateparts of the user.

The sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 is installed at a frontportion of the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus. The sterilizingwater dispensing apparatus 100 receives sterilizing water from asterilizing water generating apparatus, and dispenses the sterilizingwater to an inner wall of the toilet 10 to sterilize the inner wall ofthe toilet 10. The sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 ispreferably mounted at the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus such thata dispensing hole is sloped from a direct downward direction toward afront side of the toilet 10. By making the dispensing hole positioned ata rear side of the toilet 10 point towards the front side, sterilizingwater can be dispensed evenly on the entire inner wall of the toilet 10.In this respect, in consideration of the general size of the toilet 10and mounting position of the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100,the dispensing hole is preferably installed to be sloped at more than 20degrees in a forward direction. Alternatively, the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus 100 may be installed to be movable in a forwarddirection from the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus like the bidetnozzle, and in this case, the dispensing hole may not need to beinstalled to be sloped toward the front side. Meanwhile, the sterilizingwater dispensing apparatus 100 may execute a dispensing operation bymeans of the control panel 80. Namely, a toilet sterilization button maybe provided to the control panel 80, so that when the user presses thetoilet sterilization button, the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus100 can dispense sterilizing water.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are side sectional views of thesterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of abody part of the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the sterilizing water dispensingapparatus 100 includes a body part 120 and a nozzle part 140.

The body part 120 includes a hollow part 121 through which sterilizingwater can flow, an inlet 122 formed at an upper end thereof, and anoutlet 123 formed at a lower portion thereof. Sterilizing water whichhas introduced through the inlet 122 formed at the upper end of the bodypart 120 flows along the hollow part 121 and then is discharged throughthe outlet 123.

The hollow part 121 extends in a lengthwise direction from the upperportion of the body part 120 to the lower portion of the body part 120,and the outlet 123 extends in a radial direction from the lower portionof the body part 120 so as to be fluid-connected with the hollow part121. Accordingly, the sterilizing water flows from the upper portion tothe lower portion of the hollow part 121 and then is discharged in theradial direction. A plurality of outlets 123 may be formed along thelower circumference of the body part 120, and in the present exemplaryembodiment illustrated in the drawings, two outlets 123 are disposed ina facing manner.

A protruding part 124 is formed at a lower side of the outlet 123,namely, at the lowermost portion of the body part 120. The protrudingpart 124 has a diameter larger than the part the outlet 123 is formedon. The protruding part 124 in a cylindrical shape has a recessed bottomsurface to form a vortex production chamber 130 together with the nozzlepart 140. A guide groove 125 is formed at a side wall of the protrudingpart 124 to allow sterilizing water which has been discharged throughthe outlet 123 to be introduced therein. The guide groove 125, startingfrom the side wall of the protruding part 124, extends to the interiorof the protruding part 124, and is formed to point toward a positiondeviating from the center of the protruding part 124. This configurationaims to providing a rotational force to the sterilizing water introducedalong the guide groove 125 to thus produce a vortex. The guide groove125 is formed such that its width narrows toward the interior from theside wall. Accordingly, the sterilizing water introduced into the vortexproduction chamber 130 along the guide groove 125 can flow at a highpressure and at high speed to produce a strong vortex. A plurality ofguide grooves 125 may be formed, and in the present exemplary embodimentillustrated in the drawings, two guide grooves 125 are formed in afacing manner.

A bracket 126 is installed on the body part 120 and coupled to a frontportion of the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus with a screw or thelike.

The nozzle part 140, having a cylindrical shape, is a member coupled tothe lower portion of the body part 120. A dispensing hole 141 is formedat the center of the bottom of the nozzle part 140. An inner side of thebottom of the nozzle part 140 forms the vortex production chamber 130together with the recessed portion of the protruding part 124. An outerportion of the bottom of the nozzle part 140 may be formed to be taperedsuch that the thickness increases as it goes away from the dispensinghole 141. The reason for forming the tapered outer portion of bottom ofthe nozzle part 140 is due to the fact that the length (B) of thedispensing hole 141 needs to be short in order to increase a dispensingangle for dispensing sterilizing water (to be described) and, in thiscase, if the thickness of the entire bottom of the nozzle part 140 is assmall as to be equal to the length (B) of the dispensing hole 141, therigidity of the bottom of the nozzle part 140 weakens, so the length (B)of the dispensing hole 141 remains short while the thickness of theouter portion of the bottom of the nozzle part 140 increases toward theouter side.

The operation method of the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100configured thusly will now be described.

Sterilizing water introduced through the inlet 122 at the upper end ofthe body part 120 passes along the hollow part 121 and is thendischarged in the radial direction of the body part 120 through theoutlet 123 provided at the lower portion of the body part 120. Thesterilizing water which has been discharged through the outlet 123 isintroduced into the vortex production chamber 130 along the guidegrooves 125 of the protruding part 124 formed at the lowermost portionof the body part 120. The guide groove 125 is formed to extend in adirection other than towards the center of the vortex production chamber130 from the side wall of the vortex production chamber 130, so thesterilizing water introduced along the guide groove 125 forms a rotatingvortex centered on the center of the vortex production chamber 130. Inparticular, because the width of the guide groove 125 is reduced towardthe inner side, the sterilizing water flowing along the guide grooves125 can flow at a high pressure and at a high speed to form a strongvortex. In addition, because the plurality of guide grooves 125 aredisposed to face each other, vortexes are produced from two places,complementing each other. The sterilizing water with the vortexesproduced in the vortex production chamber 130 is externally dischargedthrough the dispensing hole 141 disposed at the center of the bottom ofthe nozzle part 140. At this time, the externally discharged sterilizingwater, namely, the vortex-formed sterilizing water, passes through thedispensing hole 141 at a high pressure, to become fine particles beingsprayed to the outer side.

In this manner, when the sterilizing water is sprayed in the form offine particles with a large surface area, the sterilizing water can bebrought into contact with a larger area of the inner wall of the toilet,having the advantage of enhancing the sterilizing effect even with thesmall quantity of sterilizing water.

Meanwhile, in order to spray the sterilizing water to the entire surfaceof the inner wall of the toilet 10 by using the single sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus 100, it is required to properly set a dispensingangle and a dispensing speed of the sterilizing water dispensed from thedispensing hole 141. Namely, as the dispensing angle widens and thedispensing speed becomes high, sterilizing water can be dispensedwidely, and if the dispensing angle is small, the dispensing range isreduced to perform partial dispensing, while if the dispensing speed islow, the dispensed sterilizing water could not extend for a desirabledistance (i.e., it could not reach sufficiently far).

Thus, the dispensing angle and dispensing speed of sterilizing waterneeds to be increased so that the sterilizing water can be dispensed tothe entire surface of the inner wall of the toilet 10, for which thesterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 must be thus optimallydesigned. The inventors of the present invention found through anexperimentation that the height (A) of the vortex production chamber130, the length (B) of the dispensing hole 141, the diameter (C) of thedispensing hole 141, and the width (D) of the guide groove 125 areparameters affecting the dispensing angle and the dispensing speed.

In order to discover the influence of these parameters on the dispensingangle and the dispensing speed, the inventors conducted CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) research with respect to diverseparameter values, the results of which are as follows.

TABLE Dispensing angle Dispensing Case A (mm) B (mm) C (mm) D (mm)(degree) speed (m/s) 1 0.2 0.2 1 0.5 140 5.562 2 0.2 0.2 1.2 0.5 1205.128 3 0.3 0.2 1 0.5 100 4.483 4 0.3 0.6 1 0.5 90 4.163 5 0.2 0.6 1.20.5 70 3.213 6 0.2 0.6 1 0.5 — 2.110

With reference to the above table, the first case shows the largestdispensing angle and the highest dispensing speed. In the second case,when the diameter (C) of the dispensing hole 141 was increased, thedispensing angle was reduced and the dispensing speed was lowered. Inthe third case, when the height (A) of the vortex production chamber 130was increased, the dispensing angle was reduced and the dispensing speedwas lowered. In the fourth to sixth cases, when the length (B) of thedispensing hole 141 was increased, the dispensing angle was furtherreduced and the dispensing speed was further lowered. Consequently, itshould be noted that as the parameters A, B, and C are reduced, thedispensing angle and the dispensing speed are increased, establishinginverse proportional relationships.

Based on the results that the dispensing angle and the dispensing speedare inverse-proportional to the parameter values, in order to determinethe upper limits of the parameters with which the dispensing angle andthe dispensing speed can be larger than a certain value (e.g., thedispensing angle of at least 100 degrees), the inventor of the presentinvention conducted actual experimentation, the results of which areshown in the table below:

TABLE Dispensing Dispensing A (mm) B (mm) C (mm) D (mm) angle range 10.1 0.1 1 0.5 140 degrees or 99% or greater greater 2 0.2 0.2 1 0.5 100degrees or 90% or greater greater 3 0.3 0.2 1 0.5 100 degrees or 90% orgreater greater 4 0.5 0.2 1 0.5 20 degrees or Smaller than smaller 10% 50.5 0.1 1.2 0.5 20 degrees or Smaller than smaller 10% 6 0.2 0.3 1 0.5100 degrees or 90% or greater greater 7 0.2 0.5 1 0.5 20 degrees ofSmaller than smaller 10% 8 0.2 1 1 0.5 Abnormal Smaller than waterstream 10% 9 0.5 1 1 0.5 Abnormal Smaller than water stream 10% 10 0.2 11.2 0.5 Abnormal Smaller than water stream 10% 11 0.5 1 1.2 0.5 20degrees or Smaller than smaller 10% 12 0.2 0.2 1.2 0.5 100 degrees or90% or greater greater 13 0.2 0.2 1.5 0.5 100 degrees or 90% or greatergreater 14 0.2 0.2 1.7 0.5 20 degrees or Smaller than smaller 10% 15 0.20.2 1 0.7 100 degrees or 90% or greater greater 16 0.2 0.2 1 1 20degrees or 0% smaller 17 0.2 0.2 1.2 1 20 degrees or Smaller thansmaller 10% 18 0.5 0.2 1 1 20 degrees or 0% smaller 19 0.5 0.1 1.2 1 20degrees or Smaller than smaller 10% 20 0.2 1 1.2 1 20 degrees or Smallerthan smaller 10%

With reference to the second to fourth cases in the above table, it isnoted that, when B, C, and D are the same, the dispensing angle is 100degrees or greater and the dispensing range is 90% or greater of theinner wall of the toilet, until when A is 0.3 mm or smaller, while if Ais 0.5 mm, the dispensing angle is 20 degrees or lower and thedispensing range is smaller than 10%. Thus, in order to make thedispensing angle 100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range 90% orgreater, A must be 0.3 mm or smaller.

With reference to the second, sixth to eighth cases in the above table,it is noted that, when A, C, and D are the same, the dispensing angle is100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range is 90% or greater of theinner wall of the toilet until when B is 0.3 mm or smaller, while if Bis 0.5 mm or greater, the dispensing angle is 20 degrees or lower andthe dispensing range is smaller than 10%. Thus, in order to make thedispensing angle 100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range 90% orgreater, B must be 0.3 mm or smaller.

With reference to the second and 12^(th) to 14^(th) cases in the abovetable, it is noted that, when A, B, and D are the same, the dispensingangle is 100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range is 90% orgreater of the inner wall of the toilet until when C is 1.5 mm orsmaller, while if C is 1.7 mm, the dispensing angle is 20 degrees orlower and the dispensing range is smaller than 10%. Thus, in order tomake the dispensing angle 100 degrees or greater and the dispensingrange 90% or greater, C must be 1.5 mm or smaller.

With reference to the second, 15^(th) and 16^(th) cases in the aboveTable, it is noted that, when A, B, and C are the same, the dispensingangle is 100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range is 90% orgreater of the inner wall of the toilet until when D is 0.7 mm orsmaller, while if D is 1 mm, the dispensing angle is 20 degrees or lowerand the dispensing range is smaller than 10%. Thus, in order to make thedispensing angle 100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range 90% orgreater, D must be 0.7 mm or smaller.

With reference to the first case in the above table, it is noted that,when the parameters of A, B, C, and D are in the smallest range, thedispensing angle is 140 degrees or greater and the dispensing range is99% of the inner wall of the toilet. However, in the fifth, ninth to11^(th), and 17^(th) to 20^(th) cases, in which at least one of theparameters of A, B, C, and D exceeds the range, the dispensing angle is20 degrees or smaller and the dispensing range is smaller than 10% ofthe inner wall of the toilet. For reference, the denotation of anabnormal water stream refers to a case that water is twisted to bedispensed, having a very small dispensing range.

When the above results are put together, in order to obtain thedispensing angle of 100 degrees or greater and the dispensing range of90% or greater, the height (A) of the vortex production chamber 130 mustbe 0.3 mm or smaller, the length (B) of the dispensing hole 141 must be0.3 mm or smaller, the diameter (C) of the dispensing hole 141 must be1.5 mm or smaller, and the width (D) of the guide groove 125 must be 0.7mm or smaller.

Meanwhile, the dispensing angle can be increased by reducing theparameters, but in consideration of molding limitations and costs, thefabrication of a dispensing hole with the parameters A, B, C, and D of0.1 mm or smaller is not easy, and if realized, there is not a greatdeal of difference in its effects.

In addition, the above experimental results can be obtained when thepressure of sterilizing water within the vortex production chamber 130is 1.2 kg/cm² or greater. That is, such large dispensing angle anddispensing range as in the experimental results cannot be obtained at alower pressure. In order to maintain the pressure of the sterilizingwater within the vortex production chamber 130 at a certain level orgreater, preferably, the size of the dispensing hole 141 is designed tobe smaller than the inlet 122. In this case, however, sterilizing waterhaving an excessively high pressure would lead to damage to thecomponents, so the pressure of the sterilizing water preferably does notexceed 5 kg/cm².

FIG. 5 illustrates the configuration of a water supply system of thesterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 5, the water supply system is configured todistribute source water to each element through a flow path controlapparatus 300. The source water may be supplied by a water pipe or awater supply tank 400.

When the user executes cleaning or the bidet function, the source wateris supplied to the cleaning nozzle 62 or the bidet nozzle 64, and flushwater is dispensed through the nozzle.

When the user executes a nozzle tip cleaning function, the source wateris supplied to the sterilizing water generating apparatus 200, in whichthe source water becomes sterilizing water. The sterilizing water issupplied to a nozzle tip cleaning part 66. The sterilizing water of thenozzle tip cleaning part 66 is applied to the nozzle tip, and the nozzletip is sterilized.

When the user executes a toilet cleaning function, the source water issupplied to the sterilizing water generating apparatus 200, in which thesource water becomes sterilizing water. When a desired quantity ofsterilized water is generated with the lapse of a certain period oftime, a pump 240 connected with the sterilizing water generatingapparatus 200 operates to allow the sterilizing water to be introducedinto the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100. The sterilizingwater introduced into the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 isdispensed to the inner wall of the toilet 10, sterilizing the toilet 10.The process of dispensing the sterilizing water in the spray form by thesterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 is as described above.

When the nozzle tip is to be cleaned, a small quantity of sterilizingwater is simply allowed to flow to the nozzle tip under the pressure ofthe source water without using a pump, but when the toilet is to besterilized, the sterilizing water must be sprayed across the entireinner wall of the toilet, so a pump is driven to spray the sterilizingwater. In this case, however, as stated above, the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention sprays the sterilizing water in the form of fineparticles, only a small quantity of sterilizing water (e.g., about 50 mlof sterilizing water) is required to sterilize the entire inner wall ofthe toilet. Thus, the use of a low capacity pump is sufficient and, forexample, a low-noise high-lift diaphragm type pump may be employed.

FIG. 6 illustrates a different type of pump 240 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 6,the pump 240 includes a deceleration gear part 242 coupled to anelectric motor 241 and having a plurality of gears to decelerate arotational speed of the electric motor 241, and a plurality of linkmembers 243 having one side coupled to the deceleration gear part 242and make a joint movement. The pump 240 further includes a pumping unit244 provided at the other side of the link member 243 and making areciprocal movement according to the joint movement of the link member243. The pumping unit 244 instantly pumps sterilizing water from thesterilizing water generating apparatus 200 while making the reciprocalmovement, and supplies it to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus100. In this manner, when the sterilizing water is supplied by instantlyapplying pressure to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100, thesterilizing water which has passed through the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus 100 can be sprayed as particles in a fine sizethrough the dispensing hole 141.

The sterilizing water generating apparatus 200 may use an electrode-typemodule that generates a sterilization material (mixed oxide: MO) fromwater itself by using an electric force and a ruthenium oxide catalystelectrode. The generation of sterilizing water according to theelectrode method is a known art, so a detailed description thereof willbe omitted.

A reactive material adding unit 220 may be connected to an inflow sideof the sterilizing water generating apparatus 200. The reactive materialadding unit 220 may add a reactive material to water introduced into thesterilizing water generating apparatus 200 to increase the amount of asterilizing material generated in the sterilizing water generatingapparatus 200. Solid NaCl may be used as the reactive material.

The reactive material is accommodated within the reactive materialadding unit 220, mixed with water introduced to the interior of thereactive material adding unit 220, and then introduced to thesterilizing water generating apparatus 200. The sterilizing watergenerating apparatus 200 applies electricity to the NaCl-mixed water togenerate HOCL⁻ or OCL⁻ ions, a sterilizing material. Besides NaCl,chlorine-based material, silver oxide, iodine-based material, and thelike, may be introduced into the sterilizing water generating apparatus200.

FIG. 7 illustrates the dispensing of sterilizing water to the inner wallof the toilet by the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 7, the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 attached tothe front portion of the main body 30 of the bidet apparatus sprayssterilizing water at a wide dispensing angle to apply the sterilizingwater to the entire surface of the inner wall of the toilet 10.

Meanwhile, in the exemplary embodiment as described above, thesterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 and the sterilizing watergenerating apparatus 200 are installed at the bidet 20, but withoutbeing limited thereto, they may be installed at the toilet seat 40 andused. That is, the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus 100 and thesterilizing water generating apparatus 200 may be installed at a rearportion of the toilet seat 40, and likewise as in the case where theyare installed at the bidet 20, preferably, the dispensing hole 141 isinstalled to be sloped forwardly at 20 degrees or greater from thedirect downward direction. In addition, because electricity is notgenerally supplied to toilet seat 40, the sterilizing water generatingapparatus 200 that generates sterilizing water according to a solutionmethod.

A product manufactured by combining the sterilizing water dispensingapparatus to a toilet seat can be advantageously used for those userswho want a toilet sterilization function although they do not use abidet.

As set forth above, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention,because sterilizing water is dispensed in the form of fine particleswith a relatively large surface area, the sterilizing water is broughtinto contact with a larger area of an inner wall of a toilet, so asterilizing effect can be enhanced with a small quantity of sterilizingwater.

In addition, because sterilizing water can be dispensed to the entiresurface of the inner wall of the toilet with a single sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus by increasing a dispensing angle and dispensingspeed of sterilizing water, the configuration can be simple and the costcan be reduced.

While the present invention has been shown and described in connectionwith the exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that modifications and variations can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

1. A sterilizing water dispensing apparatus comprising: an inlet throughwhich sterilizing water is introduced; a cylindrical vortex productionchamber that produces a vortex in the sterilizing water introducedthrough the inlet; and a dispensing hole disposed at the center of thebottom of the vortex production chamber and dispensing thevortex-produced sterilizing water of the vortex production chamber to aninner wall of the toilet.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thesterilizing water in the vortex production chamber is sprayed in theform of fine particles through the dispensing hole.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the vortex production chamber comprises a guide grooveextending from a side wall to the interior, the guide groove extendingtoward a position deviating from the center of the vortex productionchamber, whereby sterilizing water is introduced to the interior of thevortex production chamber along the guide groove, producing a vortexrotating about the center of the vortex production chamber.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the guide groove is formed such that itswidth narrows toward the interior from the side wall.
 5. The apparatusof claim 3, wherein a plurality of guide grooves are formed to besymmetrical about the center of the vortex production chamber.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein sterilizing water is dispensed through thedispensing hole at a dispensing angle of 100 degrees or greater.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the vortex production chamber has a heightranging from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thedispensing hole has a length ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the dispensing hole has a diameter rangingfrom 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm.
 10. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the guidegroove has a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.7 mm.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the dispensing hole is smaller than the inlet.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the pressure of sterilizing water withinthe vortex production chamber ranges 1.2 kg/cm² to 5 kg/cm².
 13. A bidetcomprising: the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus described inclaim 1; and a sterilizing water generating apparatus that suppliessterilizing water to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus.
 14. Thebidet of claim 13, wherein the sterilizing water generating apparatusgenerates sterilizing water by an electrode method.
 15. The bidet ofclaim 13, further comprising: a nozzle assembly that dispenses water tothe private parts of the user; and a nozzle tip cleaning part thatcleans a nozzle tip of the nozzle assembly, wherein the sterilizingwater generating apparatus is connected to the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus and the nozzle tip cleaning part, and sterilizingwater generated by the sterilizing water generating apparatus issupplied to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus or to the nozzletip cleaning part.
 16. The bidet of claim 15, wherein the sterilizingwater dispensing apparatus is connected to a pump, and sterilizing wateris supplied by the pump.
 17. The bidet of claim 16, wherein the pumpcomprises: an electric motor; a decelerating gear part connected withthe electric motor and having a plurality of gears to decelerate arotational speed; a plurality of link members having one side coupledwith the decelerating gear part and making a joint movement; and apumping unit connected with another side of the link members andreciprocally moving according to the joint movement of the link member,wherein the pumping unit supplies sterilizing water of the sterilizingwater generating apparatus to the sterilizing water dispensing apparatuswhile making a reciprocal movement.
 18. The bidet of claim 13, wherein adispensing hole of the sterilizing water dispensing apparatus isinstalled to be sloped from a directly downward side to a front side.19. A toilet seat comprising: the sterilizing water dispensing apparatusdescribed in claim 1; and the sterilizing water generating apparatusthat supplies sterilizing water to the sterilizing water dispensingapparatus.
 20. The toilet seat of claim 19, wherein the sterilizingwater generating apparatus generates sterilizing water by a solutionmethod.
 21. The toilet seat of claim 19, wherein the sterilizing waterdispensing apparatus is installed at a rear side of the toilet seat, anda dispensing hole is installed to be sloped from a directly downwardside to a front side.